Tommy Hilfiger joined author and Worth magazine editor Richard Bradley last night for a spirited discussion on the iconic American designer's eponymous brand in the latest installment of the French Institute's Fashion Talks series (an upcoming event on March 22 will spotlight Marc Jacobs). Hilfiger told Bradley of his first business venture as a teen in upstate Elmira, New York, selling bell-bottoms bussed-in from the city at the People's Place, his "cool hippie boutique," which ultimately went bankrupt. The failure was an eye-opening experience for the young entrepreneur: "From that day onward, I decided I would train myself to understand the `business' part of the business as well as the creative part."

Talk then turned to Hilfiger's move to NYC in 1979 to pursue a career designing, and his first signature collection in 1985, a successful attempt at "really cool, out-of-the-box American classics"—which legendary ad man George Lois publicized famously in the center of Times Square with his "hangman" ad, which read "The four great American designers for men are R-L, C-K, P-E, and T-H" and featured Hilfiger's logo. (He also revealed Lois's original idea: "He had a picture of Ralph Lauren, a picture of Calvin Klein, a picture of Perry Ellis, a picture of Geoffrey Beene, and drew Xs through them, saying, `We'll put your picture there and say you're the next.")

Bradley noted the brand's longtime association with music and pop culture. "I thought using musicians in advertising and sponsoring concerts and dressing them would keep the brand young and cool," Hilfiger explained. "And we did connect with everyone from Britney Spears to Lenny Kravitz to the Rolling Stones. In 1994 Snoop Dogg wore my shirt on Saturday Night Live and triggered this incredible fanatical trend of the hip-hop kids wearing my logo." On the topic of musicians, Bradley brought up a less harmonious incident, in which Hilfiger brawled with Axl Rose at a party in 2006: "He pushed me out of the way and I said, `excuse me, that was really rude.' He pulled back his fist and had a big, huge ring on, and I thought, if I get hit with that ring, it's going to be the end. So I hit him before he hit me."

So how has all of this affected the designer? "You've made this evolution from a small-town kid who loves the Rolling Stones to someone who sponsors the Rolling Stones to someone who ends up being neighbors with Mick Jagger. How are you dealing with this: Is it nothing but fun?" Bradley asked, to which Hilfiger replied, "I would say 99 percent fun, one percent reality."